[pyrnet] Chat: Moving Day

[Jeanne Bravin <gypsyunltd@yahoo.com>]

Hi all!  We finally moved last weekend, and it's been
an adventure.  Those of you who assured me that Gypsy
would be fine as long as she was with me were
absolutely right - she's come through the move like a
trouper, and already knows what "belongs" and what
doesn't in her new space.

I put a leash on Gypsy first thing Saturday morning,
and kept her on a leash all day long.  My youngest
daughter's main task the entire day was supervising
Gypsy and helping me with the animals.  When we
arrived at the new house, Carol spent the entire
afternoon walking Gypsy around the yard.  When every
thing was moved and all the helpers gone, I closed up
the gate and let Gypsy "loose" (trailing her leash) in
her new yard.  I thought it would be pretty safe, but
I wanted that trailing leash just in case.  Turned out
to be a smart move!  

It's a corner lot, 100' x 200'.  The whole thing is
perimeter fenced.  The back and side where there are
neighbors have a 6' stockade fence, and the front and
side that are on the roads have a 4' chain link -
since Gypsy has never tried to jump or climb a fence,
I thought it would be perfect.  The stockaded corner
has a large garden surrounded by a small picket fence
with a gate and an arbor.  I was thinking 'wonderful,
Gypsy won't be able to eat or tromple anything planted
in there!'  Wrong.

The first thing she did was to inspect the garden
fence.  She walked around it once, then went back to
the gate area.  She looked at the gate for all of one
minute, then grabbed one of the pickets on the gate
with her paw and popped it off and went into the
garden for an explore.  (Ok, no big deal - my son had
already said that he was going to repair that entire
garden fence, especially the leaning arbor, and I'm
sure that he will make it Gypsy proof.)

Gypsy then, almost immediately, showed me that the
corner fence post for the stockade fence was loose,
and was very pleased to see that she could move the
whole corner of it using the paw & picket method! 
(All right, that has to be fixed, but at least there's
another wire fence behind it.  She wouldn't be going
anywhere...)

She then walked the entire perimeter of the chain link
fence, and found a spot where the fence is down a
little because of a tree that fell on it way back
when.  I didn't think that it would be a problem
because it's still about three feet high, but she
seemed to think it was just right for "mountain
climbing".  I scolded her and pulled her back, but I
could see the wheels in her head turning and the
information being filed for future reference in the
immense data bank that is her brain.  (Sigh.  Ok,
that's got to be fixed ASAP.)

She then discovered that the paw & picket method works
pretty well on rotted out pieces of the stockade fence
in the back, but there doesn't happen to be a wire
fence behind it on THAT side.  (Grumble grumble - we
could just run welded wire fencing along the inside of
the stockade...)

And then - oh look!  What's behind this garage?!? 
Why, it's a giant hole under the fence!  Just right
for a Great Pyrenees to fit under!!! 
(ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Well, we could just fence off
the sides of the garage with that welded wire, as long
as we're putting it up along the stockade anyway...)

But then, the piece de resistance - there was a possum
in a bush in front of the house.  Gypsy jumped up on
the fence to get a closer "bark" at it, and almost
FELL OVER the 4' chain link.  4' is fine for walking
and running, but not for vigorous upright barking.  So
basically, the entire fence is now worthless to me. 
And it only took her 1/2 an hour to figure it all out.

She has spent most of the nights in the new house
sleeping in our bed, which is highly unusual for her,
but she's doing pretty well otherwise.  She loves
going for "walks" several times a day, and I have a
temporary tie out cable runner that gives her a 20' x
50' area in the back yard for first thing in the
morning (before I'm dressed!) and other short periods
of time that I can't go out with her.  I spent three
days this week doing nothing but clearing overgrown
brush and vines so that my husband and I can install a
6' Pyr-proof fence out back.  She'll only have PART of
the yard, but it will be a SAFE part!  The rest we'll
do at our leisure.  

Now that the brush clearing is done, I can get back to
unpacking the household stuff.  Anybody need a fence tested?

Jeanne Bravin
Mastic, NY
GypsyunLTD@yahoo.com


		
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